


Heart Friend

by RepeatOne



Category: BLACKPINK (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Developing Relationship, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Lies, Love Confessions, Mental Health Issues, Secrets, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-01 20:55:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17251253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RepeatOne/pseuds/RepeatOne
Summary: After a crazy night out with her best friend Lisa, Park Chaeyoung falls into bed in a drunken daze and wakes up to find herself halfway around the world in an apartment that isn't hers, with strange roommates who seem to know her inside-out and a mission to complete within 100 days.





	1. [00]

With a loud burp, Park Chaeyoung announced her arrival into her apartment complex at two o'clock in the morning. Her chunky heels clacked and echoed around the empty courtyard as she stomped lazily towards building number one hundred and two. It was eerily quiet, she decided, though she could see lights dotted on all over the windows that surrounded her on every side. The air was still, a little humid, but neither too warm nor too chilly - a perfect night. Flipping her rose-gold hair over her shoulder, she squinted at the keypad in front of her and punched in the code that came to her from muscle memory more than anything else and she stumbled inside, heading right for the elevator. Chaeyoung kept her eyes closed tight as she leaned back against the elevator car, stumbling out as she arrived on the seventh floor and managed to fit the key into the lock on the first go. Flinging her shoes off, her sore and bare feet slapped against the floor as she blindly pushed her bedroom door open, tossing her bag down and flopping onto her messy and unmade bed, curling herself into the soft duvet and promptly falling asleep.

 

 

 

Bright sunshine streamed through the flimsy curtains, rousing Chaeyoung from her deep sleep. She blinked lazily, her eyes feeling heavy and crusty. With a careless rub, her eyes opened fully and she groaned, rolling on to her side and off her bed, padding towards her door and flinging it open. Her mouth stretched wide open as she made her way into the kitchen to make some coffee, hoping it would wake her up and fend off what seemed like the beginning of a headache on the left side.

"Afternoon, m'lady!"

Chaeyoung let out a laugh, opening her eyes to greet her roommate who-

_Who?_

Chaeyoung's large eyes snapped open, fully alert and flitted from one unfamiliar face to the other - a young man and a young woman, both around her age. The young man exchanged a look with the woman and they giggled.

"Our Chae got trollied again last night, Soo." he said in mock distaste before returning back to chopping vegetables.

"You okay?" the woman laughed, her long, dark hair shining in the artificial lights. "You look like crap."

"What the fuck..." Chaeyoung breathed, turning on her heel and walking back into the room she came from, ignoring the man calling to her to tell her not to throw up on her carpet again.

She quietly closed the door, her heart pounding, a sweat breaking out over her skin as she realised that this bedroom was not hers. This was not her space, not her bedding. Those weren't her textbooks and neither were the stuffed dolls. Her breathing became shallow as her chest moved up and down rapidly, panic overtaking her as she moved towards the window, tearing the curtains open to reveal an unfamiliar street lined with signs:

 

_"setak"_

_"pyeonijeom"_

_"noraebang"  
_

_"nonghyup eunhaeng"_

 

Where.

The.

_Fuck?_

This wasn't Melbourne.

Pulling the curtains closed again, she sat down on the bed and her mind began racing with a million possibilities about how she possibly ended up so far from home. Was her drink spiked with something more than alcohol last night? Did she drunkenly take a bus to K-town? She shot up again, opening the curtains and looking out as far as she could see. She didn't recognise that bridge. There was no such bridge in Melbourne. Her apartment was nowhere near the seaside, yet there it was, clear as day, a massive bridge over the ocean connecting two sides of the city.

Stepping back from the window, she looked around the room, finding a cellphone on the bedside table and picked it up. The screen flashed on and she recognised her lock screen wallpaper, but the carrier...

"SKT?"

She was with Telstra.

A sense of dread began building up inside of her as she concluded that she was much farther from home than she wanted to believe. How? How was it possible that she was in Korea? How the fuck did she end up there? Did she manage to buy herself a plane ticket, board a ten hour flight to Korea, end up in a apartment with people who apparently know who she is, fall asleep with no luggage and somehow not remember a single second of the whole ordeal?

Was she drugged?

But who would drug her?

"Doesn't matter." she muttered, stabbing the screen to enter her pass code, only to have it rejected. After a second and third time, the phone warned her that the next time she would be locked out and she let out a cry of frustration. "Okay, okay."

She got up, tossing her useless phone down and pacing around the room. She had no clue how she arrived there, but she could get back. She was sure she had a passport somewhere and she knew her credit card details off by heart. Even if she didn't have her card, she could recite the details. Okay... yeah, okay! If she left right then, she would be able to get herself to the airport and it was Saturday anyway so she would have plenty of time to get to work on Monday morning. With a little more composure, Chaeyoung began searching around in the drawers, opening and closing each one, huffing in defeat as she found nothing.

Grabbing the phone, she gripped it as she crouched down beside the bed, cursing the pass code as she remembered the emergency call function was only for emergency services. What the fuck kind of use was that to anyone in her situation? Running a hand through her hair, she flinched as there was a knock on her door and a voice on the other side.

_"Chae, come eat!"_

It was that man.

How the _fuck_ did he know her name?

Taking a deep breath, Chaeyoung shut her eyes and curled into herself.

This couldn't be real, she was beginning to think it was some kind of vivid dream, but a sharp pinch to her wrist soon brought that idea crashing down around her.

She stayed silent in hope that he would leave and thankfully after a minute she heard footsteps leading away from the door. Her back and shoulders heaved and shuddered as stress induced tears dripped down her cheeks, her fingers gripping the duvet as she let out a long and slow breath. This was all wrong, it was all wrong, all wrong, all wrong all wrong! How far was she from home? Where was her mum? She wanted her mum...

Wiping her face on her sleeve, she pulled herself up and grabbed a bag that was strewn over a chair, throwing the phone and whatever else she could find inside that might be useful. There was some money already inside the bag. She stared down at the ten-thousand and five-thousand won bills, deciding to leave them in there. If it really was Korea, then she wouldn't have a key for the apartment. Once she was out, she might not be able to get back inside if one of the others left and as absurd as the situation was, she didn't want to risk getting lost and becoming homeless.

Glancing down at herself, she noticed that she was in grey sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt. That would do. She could feel the heat radiating from outside as it was, there was probably no need for a jacket. As her hand rested on the door handle, nausea swept over her and an unfamiliar sense of anxiety settled in the pit of her stomach. She _clearly_ remembered going home the night before. Drunk or not, she was at the very least that much sure of herself. There was no way about it, then. She would have to go outside and ask around, find the Australian consulate and explain the situation. They could get her some emergency documents and get her home.

Right.

Okay.

Throwing the door open, Chaeyoung marched out, stepping into the nearest pair of slippers and exited the apartment. Driven by determination and trying her best not to think about her situation, she found the first floor and dashed outside, the street signs and bus stop schedules confirming that she definitely was not in some kind of K-Town. Turning down left down the street she pressed on until she reached a crossroad and turned left again, continuing straight. Her feet carried her confidently, though she had no idea where she was headed, across the street, down another two blocks, left again until she was standing outside of a police station.

"Busan." she said simply, staring up at the sign overhead.

She'd never been to Busan before, only Seoul with her family.

The moment the sole of her slipper touched the step, a deep and husky voice sounded beside her:

"It's eerie, isn't it? Waking up somewhere strange with no knowledge of how you got there."

Her head of rose-gold hair whipped around to meet the eyes of a tall and handsome young man who gave her a small smile as he stood in a simple black suit with a white shirt and no tie. His ash blonde hair wavered in the breeze as they regarded each other. Relief washed over her as she stepped down again, moving out of the way of a police officer and over to him.

"Forgive me for being late, Chaeyoung, you must have been very afraid. My name is Kim Taehyung. Come with me and I'll explain everything."


	2. Transporter [Day 1]

Chaeyoung looked around at the small, cozy art cafe that Taehyung had brought her to. He ordered drinks for them and led her to a table at the back beside a large bay window with pretty fairy lights twinkling around the frames. Only a few other customers were dotted around the cafe, one playing the guitar in front of his open laptop, headphones on and disconnected from the world. A couple were sitting by the low table on the raised platform, both of them working on small watercolour paintings, absorbed in their date. Aside from them, three large ginger cats were dotted around the room, sleeping on various different surfaces. They both thanked the owner who brought them their drinks and Taehyung waited until she returned back to the front counter, well out of earshot, before beginning.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions, so I'll explain as much as I can. I'm a Transporter. Every so often, we are sent to interfere in the lives of humans in order to help them and that requires plucking one random person from country A and placing them in country B so that they can help carry out tasks lasting up to one hundred days. You must be concerned about why you were chosen and to answer that question before it's asked, it's random. There's no reason why you in particular were chosen. You're probably also wondering about your life back in Melbourne?"

"Yes, I do have work on Monday morning, so I'm a bit anxious to get back."

"Don't worry. During this time, reality shifts and life as we know it changes temporarily. Life will go on for the next hundred days, but no one will back home will be aware of your existence. This allows for the task to be done properly, and upon being completed, reality shifts back and you will wake up exactly where you fell asleep with no time lost. You won't remember anything from the time you spend here, it will seem like nothing more than a long sleep for both you and the person you help."

"Okay, cool." she nodded, genuinely impressed with the set-up. "How come this exists?"

"The man upstairs is more compassionate than he seems."

"Oh."

"Yeah." he smiled, grabbing his large pouch and setting it on his lap, unzipping it and pulling out a big brown envelope, holding it out for her to take, which she did. "This is everything you need to know about your life. Before you get worried, no one is going to ever know that you don't belong in this timeline. To everyone you encounter, you have always existed in their memories so you don't have to worry about memorising a fake life story."

"Okay." she breathed, opening the flap of the envelope to peer inside.

"You'll find your ID card, a bank book with money in an account, bank cards, transport card, your phone password, your home passcode, a list of your friends with their pictures and names, ages and a brief outline of what they do. There's also a schedule included outlining your week."

"A schedule?"

"And your student card." he added with a smile that dropped quickly upon seeing her expression.

"I'm a student?!" she hissed with a frown, leaning into him.

"You study English, we made it easy for you so you can have more time to help the person."

Chaeyoung sat back up with a huff, sipping from her drink. "I'm way too old to be in university. So who's the person, anyway? Tell me so I can get back as soon as possible."

"Ah, that?" Taehyung grinned sheepishly, crossing his legs and clasping his hands around his knees. "I can't tell you."

"What?"

"You'll know when you meet that person."

"Well what am I supposed to help them with?"

"I can't tell you that either."

Chaeyoung's eyes fluttered closed, her jaw set as she leaned her forehead on her hand.

"Don't worry!" he continued, "This person will definitely be someone you encounter soon, and when you meet them, you'll instinctively know what to do."

"You're not lying to me?"

"Absolutely not. I'm duty bound not to reveal who or where or why - that's your job. Please don't worry too much. After one hundred days, you'll be back in your life exactly as you knew it. I promise."

"I don't even get a choice?"

"I'm afraid not. But the quicker you complete the task, the quicker you can go home."

"Deal."

 


	3. [Day 10]

Ten days had passed and Chaeyoung was beginning to doubt that she would ever come across this mysterious person who was supposedly in such dire need of her help. She had quickly become comfortable around her roommates, whose names she had learned to be Kim Seokjin and Kim Jisoo and who were both business management students at Busan university. Both of them vehemently denied being in a relationship or even liking each other, but Chaeyoung remained unconvinced and uncaring. She'd heard them at some ungodly hour in the morning when she had to get up to pee and before her hand could touch the bathroom door handle, she was startled by a loud groan and the unmistakable sound of heavy panting from the other side and was forced to tip-toe back across the hall and into her room.

The sun shone down on her as she entered through the gates to attend her absolutely pointless classes for the week. She had considered joining a club, but after consulting Jisoo on the matter, quickly abandoned the idea after being told horror stories of over-zealous leaders who took themselves and the importance of their clubs way too seriously. And so she stuck to her classes as planned in her schedule, quietly entering her class and sliding into her seat beside Jungkook, who was listed in the documents given to her by Taehyung as her _'bestie'_ and while she found his energy to be a bit much, she enjoyed his company nonetheless. She was thankful that she didn't have to contribute to conversations much as Jungkook could, and did, talk her ear off for as long as she let him.

"Hey, have you started your creative writing assignment?" he asked, sprawled over the desk, lazily resting his head on his hand.

Chaeyoung nodded in reply, pulling her textbook and block of file paper to write on along with her Gudetama pencil case out of her dusty rose pink backpack. She was significantly less pissed off about what had happened to her when she discovered the shopping situation in Korea. Chaeyoung adored shopping for clothes, make-up and accessories and she was spoiled for choice. She considered just giving up on the whole help-a-stranger scheme she found herself in and simply go shopping instead for the next three months, but her conscience quickly kicked in as she reminded herself that she had agreed to help and she couldn't back out on her word. She always kept her promises.

"Ah what the hell? I've been staring at a blank word document this past week just trying to figure out how I'm gonna use the prompt the professor gave us. I hate that the whole story has to happen because of it - what kind of prompt is 'a USB stick' anyway? Who the hell looks at a USB stick and gets inspiration from _that?"_

Chaeyoung smiled to herself as Jungkook rambled on, his exasperation over the top as always.

 

"Gimmie a hint please!" he begged her as they exited the class and headed towards the cafeteria. "What did you write about?"

"Don't copy me!" she warned, giving him a stern look which was immediately met with pleading puppy dog eyes as, she had quickly discovered, it didn't seem to matter that Jungkook was a fully grown young man, people still seemed to melt into putty when he tried it. "Just think about any situation where, without a USB stick, nothing would've happened. So let's say, what do you download?"

"Porn."

Chaeyoung stopped in her tracks, her eyes squeezing shut at his brazenness.

"Okay, Pororo, then." he shrugged.

"That's weirder." she retorted, throwing him a look in feign disgust. "Okay so you have a USB stick full of porn. What could possibly go wrong, for example, if that were to get into the wrong hands. What kind of people could meet because of it? What could-"

"Okay, I get it, I get it!" he interjected, finally understanding the brief a little better.

They walked in silence for a moment, though Chaeyoung could sense that he was bursting with more questions. She wondered how long he could last befo-

"WillyouproofreaditformeI'llbuyyoulunchpleaseyourEnglishissogood."

"Okay, but I'm ordering big." she grinned, her short pleated skirt swinging as she twisted her feet for a couple of steps.

"Anything you want!" he promised with an enthusiastic nod of his head, bangs and earrings shaking with him.

Upon setting foot inside the cafeteria, it quickly became clear that there were no free seats and so Jungkook ordered Chaeyoung to grab a table outside in the sunshine while he ran to the nearest convenience store on campus. Ten minutes later, he landed down on the wooden picnic table with two black bags full. As he pulled out what seemed like an endless stream of sandwiches, snacks, drinks and candy, Chaeyoung couldn't help but look on in awe at how terrible his diet was that he considered the buffet of junk food in front of him to be actual food. Jungkook was pretty much constantly eating, a young man with an insatiable appetite.

Could it be him? Was he the one she was supposed to help? Was his diet that bad that she had been transported all the way from Melboune to show him the wonders of fresh fruits and vegetables? Could that be it? But then, when she looked at his body, he wasn't even close to being chubby and after witnessing his eating habits over the last nine days, she wasn't convinced that fruits and veggies would be off the menu for him. The man ate everything without discrimination, like a human bin.

"Why're you looking at me like that?" his voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she realised he had crossed his arms over his chest and was leaning away from her before declaring: "Sorry, but you're not my type!"

Chaeyoung let out a laugh and rolled her eyes before grabbing a sandwich that, for some reason, contained mashed potato and swiped a can of grape Fanta.

"You want my help or not?"

"Are you blackmailing me into sleeping with you?" he gasped, arms flying over his chest once more. "You know I don't swing that way."

Chaeyoung stopped mid-chew, her eyes widening as she studied the label on the sandwich packaging. Fuck, she didn't look too suspicious, right? He didn't notice anything, right?

"I was joking!" she lightly jabbed him with a grin on her face. "What're you overreacting for?"

"That's just my style." he shrugged and Chaeyoung watched in abject horror as he grabbed a cold hamburger, tore open a small packet of strawberry jam and squeezed it all over the super-processed meat patty.

Her own sandwich wasn't as terrible as she thought it was going to be, the grape Fanta helping things go down easier. After tossing the trash in the bin, she turned back to the small mountain of snacks that Jungkook had procured and grabbed some grape jellies, tearing it open and as she glanced up, something caught her eye.

Behind Jungkook and to his right, there was a young man in a black bomber jacket, white t-shirt and black skinny jeans with a black bag slung over his shoulders, a black face mask sitting around his chin. His hair was dyed a deep brown colour, bangs covering his forehead. His nose was tall, face slim, cheekbones high and expression sullen. 

Chaeyoung's eyes were fixed on him, unable to break her gaze even when he cast her a sidelong glare as he walked by.

Jungkook hadn't noticed that she wasn't listening to him until he looked up to see her staring off at some passerby.

"Hello?" he called, but she ignored him, only reaching out after a moment to point over to the boy in black.

"Who is he?" she asked and Jungkook peered over, catching a glimpse as he turned down a path leading down the back, and burst into laughter. "Have you been alive for the last five minutes?"

"Huh?"

"That's Jung Hoseok." he said, as though she were the dumbest person on the planet. "He's- hey! Where are you going?"

Jungkook flinched as the bag of jellies were thrown in his direction and he watched helplessly as Chaeyoung darted off. That guy, she had to get to that guy. She had to talk to him, she had to see him. As she tried to follow him, more and more students seemed to appear, crowding around her and obscuring her view. Damn her shortness! She weaved her way through people as best she could, jumping occasionally to try and see him. Once she reached a clearer area, she saw him heading in the direction of an auditorium, but before she could go any further, her path was blocked by a guy in a striped shirt jumping out in front and startling her.

"Wait!" he called, arms and legs spread out as though he was a goalkeeper. "You're Park Chaeyoung, aren't you?"

"Yeah." she muttered dismissively, looking over his shoulder only to find that that guy, Jung Hoseok, had disappeared.

"I'm Park Jimin." he grinned, eyes creasing up into two happy lines as he bowed in greeting, which she briefly returned in kind. "I'm from the dance department."

"Okay." she frowned.

"If you don't have a boyfriend, can I get your phone number?"

Jimin felt his entire body freeze over under her deathly glare that followed his innocent question.

"That's why you stopped me? For a phone number? I was in the middle of..."

"Oh I'm sorry, did I interrupt you doing something?" he asked, sweating slightly now that he saw how pissed off she looked. Dang it, he had built up the courage all week to approach her, with the encouragement from his friends.

"Never mind." she grumbled, turning on her heel and marching back towards Jungkook.

 


	4. [Day 13]

"Our Chaeyoung went running off the other day mid-lunch." Jungkook began, slurping up jjajangmyeon noodles with a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Running off where?" Min Yoongi, their senior in the year above asked through a mouthful of jjamppong.

Chaeyoung's mouth was stuffed full of pork buns and before she could swallow and defend herself, Jungkook had started again:

"She went running after Jung Hoseok, the absolute weirdo."

"Are you a fan of Choom?"

"Of what?" she frowned after finally getting the buns down and taking a drink of water from her metal cup.

"Choom, the dance team Hoseok leads."

"Never heard of it."

"Then why did you go running after him?" Jungkook pressed, locking his chopsticks with Yoongi's to fight for the last remaining dumpling.

"Because, he-" Chaeyoung began, quickly realising she couldn't exactly explain the truth, so she decided on a different truth instead: "He's handsome. He's really handsome, actually."

Yoongi and Jungkook exchanged a look before bursting into loud laughter and Chaeyoung felt like throwing the radishes in their stupid gaping mouths and see how funny they found it then. He was handsome, what was so unbelievable about that? As she squeezed several slices of mu between her chopsticks, fire in her eyes while she held herself back, she suddenly wondered if this kind of thing was out of character for her. Could it be that that was what they were laughing at? No, that Taehyung guy she'd always existed in their memories as she was... what was up with them, then?

"You're way too pretty for someone like him!" Yoongi said after he had calmed down, though a grin remained on his face. "Literally any other guy on campus is an upgrade on him."

"That's right."

"Not Jungkook though."

"Fuck you!" he laughed, getting a slap up the back of the head from his senior for talking back. "He scares me shitless anyway, he's a total thug."

Chaeyoung was fed up listening to them. She tossed her chopsticks carelessly down and stood up, putting her jacket on and grabbing her backpack.

"Where are you going? Did we piss you off? Aww, our little Chae has a crush on the big bad wolf! But I'm being serious though he's like a human virus, don't go near him cause otherwise you'll end up a lost cause like he is." Chaeyoung threw Jungkook a deadly look at that comment. "Hey, don't be like that, Chae, come on, sit down, there's still plenty of food left. You're not nearly fat enough yet, just eat a little more then you'll only have me to turn to in the end!"

"I have something to do." she lied blatantly, leaving five thousand won on the table and stalking out, ignoring the mumbling and laughter between the boys.

Dickheads.

 

As Chaeyoung lay on her bed some time later, idly flicking through her Instagram feed, she closed her eyes for a moment and suddenly in front of her, as clear as day, images began flashing in her mind: white stripes down the middle of a road. She was looking down at it as though she were flying above, the white stripes entering and leaving, entering and leaving her sight. The brief vision was brought to a sudden end with the high pitched screech of tyres and the shattering of glass hurting her ears and making her jump. She blinked and found that she was sitting upright, sweat dripping down her back and was a little out of breath. She caught sight of a bright light in the corner of her eye and realised that it was the reflection of her bedroom light in the window. Was it night time already? She only just closed her eyes... glancing at the pink alarm clock on her bedside table, she realised it was already seven o'clock at night.

Had she really fallen asleep for an hour and a half?

What the hell was up with her dream?

Shrugging the thought off, Chaeyoung searched for her phone, finding it under her pillow and touched the home button to see a few apologetic texts from Jungkook. She scoffed at his lame attempt at an apology - the little shit wasn't sorry at all. As she was about to toss her phone aside in favour of getting some food, another message came through from him - this one a clear attempt at extending an olive branch:

 

_"That fucking punk asshole is a dance student, if you hang around the auditorium you'll run into him sometime."_

 

Oh, sweet Jungkook.

Chaeyoung swiped to reply, but another message came through that made her laugh:

 

_"Are we good now? It's your turn to buy lunch tomorrow and I want samgyetang."_

_"Congrats on your 90th birthday, grandpa. You're forgiven."_


	5. [Day 16]

Chaeyoung approached the auditorium door, slipping inside the unfamiliar building and looking for the sign to the main entrance where Jungkook had insisted Hoseok's classes might be. Might. She had refrained from any snide remarks, deciding keeping the peace was more important. She made her way down the corridor and peered through the glass on the door that led to the main auditorium. Nope, it was empty. She opened the door and quietly took a seat, taking the opportunity to look around the large room. It was pretty damn big, and she wondered if they did stage plays and school concerts there. She was supposed to be in class with Jungkook, whom she had - for some reason - entrusted her assignment to. Whatever, it was more interesting to be out of class, and that Taehyung guy had said school was just to give her something to do while she got down to business, right? This was business. She hoped.

No. It was Hoseok. It _had_ to be him.

Chaeyoung waited and waited, boredom overcoming her as she finished the tenth level in a row on Candy Crush and as she closed the app she realised that two hours had already passed. She figured no one was going to come and so she gave up, curiosity getting the better of her. Getting up from her seat, she slowly made her way towards the front and climbed up the side stairs to go on stage where she walked to the middle and stopped. It really was a huge room. It must be scary to perform in front of a full house. She swung her arms about as she meandered around the stage, suddenly remembering the days she did ballet and soon enough Chaeyoung found herself doing pirouettes across stage, getting lost inside her own head for a few minutes.

It wasn't until a blindingly bright light shone down on her, flooding her in light that she snapped out of her trance, staring at the group of students and their teacher as they stared back at her:

"Excuse me, what are you doing? Who are you?" the teacher asked.

Chaeyoung looked like a deer caught in headlights as her heart stopped momentarily, panic overtaking her as she realised she had no real answer to the question. As she opened her mouth to answer, she spotted Hoseok's face as he stood at the back behind the group and she shut her mouth once more, turning and dashing off backstage.

"She's hot!" one of the male students commented, getting nudges of agreement from the other guys and dirty looks from the girls.

"Sir, why doesn't she join us?" another guy commented.

"Well, we could do with some more help for the play." he sighed, "If she's hanging about here, maybe she wants to help out. Do any of you know who she is?"

A ripple of 'no' ran around the group and the teacher ordered one of them to go and follow her. The boys who had so boldly talked about her looks were suddenly too intimidated to go and talk to her. The girls weren't interested in recruiting someone when all they wanted to do was get on with their rehearsals. The faces eventually turned to Hoseok, who stood alone. Yeah. Of course he was going to be the one who had to go and do it. He always was when no one else wanted to. Such was life. With an exasperated growl, he chucked his bag down and shoved his hands into his pockets, his feet echoing loudly as he climbed the stairs and strode over the stage, disappearing behind the curtain in the direction where she went.

He half considered turning back around and declaring that he couldn't find her, but as he reached the bottom step of the back staircase, she was right there at the end of the corridor, leaning against the wall and idly kicking her feet as she stared straight ahead at the wall. The truth was, she couldn't figure out which button did what. One of them was to open the door to let her out, but it was hidden within nine other buttons and she was too afraid she might set off some alarm if she pressed the wrong one. Hoseok sighed audibly, walking closer towards her and only then did she realise that he was there.

He was taken aback as she stood up straight and shyly brushed her hair behind her ears, smiling a little, though she wasn't exactly sure where to look.

"You lost?" he grunted, raising an eyebrow.

Yes.

"No... I just. Um-"

"Aren't you supposed to be in class?"

"Oh. Yeah, but I decided I didn't wanna go."

He understood that, but sighed nonetheless, skipping over the myriad of questions he had for the beautiful but strange girl in front of him and instead went right to the point:

"Look do you have any useful skills? Our professor wants to know if you'll help out for the stage production, we need all the hands we can get."

Chaeyoung cocked her rose-gold head in question and Hoseok silently scolded himself for finding it so damn endearing.

"Um, I'm a licensed make-up artist?" she said tentatively with a shrug of her shoulders, as though unsure if that was the kind of thing they were looking for. "And I'm not too shabby at sewing."

Nodding in understanding, Hoseok jerked his head towards the stage, muttering for her to follow him, not seeing the giant grin on her face as she dutifully followed him back to the stage.

 


	6. [Day 19]

Over the three days and three meetings that Chaeyoung had attended at the Drama department, she noticed that Hoseok was exceptionally quiet. She had spent her time after class studying the makeup looks they wanted for their production of Hamilton. Hoseok was starring as Hercules Mulligan, something she found very difficult to picture in her head until she overheard them practising on the other side of the curtain. His voice was raspy, more gravelly when he was rapping and there was an angry edge to it. Charisma oozed from every pore and as she took a glance at the dance rehearsal she was even more floored.

He was incredible.

Chaeyoung had spent the afternoon and evening practising makeup on a few minor cast members and making alterations to the costumes, repairing small holes on the massive garments that had seen many a stage production in their days. She greeted the cast members as they passed by, thanking each other for their hard work. The solid wood flooring was beginning to hurt her knees as she had spent a long time on the floor pinning a new hem onto an old, tattered dress for one of the backup dancers. She straightened up and shrugged her jacket off, quickly and messily tying her hair back out of her face with a springy plastic bobble and placed the jacket under her knees. Her muscles were stiff and sore and so she got up and rolled her neck and arms, twisting her back and stretching her spine and legs. It was only as her nose was level with her knees did she overhear voices. Hoseok and the director.

Quietly, she tiptoed over to the heavy curtains and listened in.

 

"Look Hoseok, I know you're better than this. This isn't the kind of performance we need for this production."

"Sorry."

"I've said this several times, but your performance is just too aggressive, even for Hercules Mulligan. Part of acting is being able to reel it in for the character. This isn't Jung Hoseok on stage, it's Hercules. You have to make people believe it. I understand you're not in your right mind, but if this continues then maybe you should help out elsewhere."

Chaeyoung's heart sank at the director's words, and positively broke when Hoseok replied:

"I'll try my best. If it's still not good enough, then I think Jung Daehyun should overtake. He's a better singer than me, anyway. I can just teach the choreography."

 "Yeah, that'll do. Try your best."

 

As she listened to the director send Hoseok off, Chaeyoung waited for a moment before peeking her head through the curtains, startling the teacher with her sudden appearance.

"What're you doing creeping around here?" he scolded her, though she simply grinned.

"Director, can I ask what you meant when you said that Hoseok wasn't in his right mind?"

The middle aged man gave her an incredulous look and waved his hand, muttering if she'd been alive for the past two minutes before telling her it was better to let Hoseok do what he wanted. Chaeyoung gave a shallow bow as the odd man set off in the opposite direction, having absolutely no clue about what was going on. It was better to let him do whatever he wanted? Why? Why was he not in his right mind? Why was everyone dancing around the subject all the time? With a defeated sigh, Chaeyoung slid back behind the curtains and packed her things up. By the time she found her bag and phone, texting Jungkook back and forth about getting food, night had already fallen.

The ribbons on the back of her beret flowed gently in the breeze as she took her time walking across campus. The air was humid, the neon glow of the city lights illuminating the downtown area below. Hardly anyone remained on campus, a few people here and there. It was quiet, the only disturbance being the sound of cicadas. It didn't take too much longer before she approached the front gate where her eyes immediately landed on a figure dressed entirely in black. Chaeyoung's steps slowed as she neared him at the side of the busy road. He didn't acknowledge her presence, that wasn't anything new, but something was wrong. Something was off with him. He was upset. His eyes were a little too shiny, a little too sad as he stared ahead into nothing.

"Hoseok?"

Hoseok's head snapped round to see that weird girl beside him. The one who dressed in pink and beige all the time and just turned up at their auditorium one day. Chaeyoung, or something.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm good." he scoffed, laughing a little at her forwardness.

Chaeyoung's eyes pierced through his and his blood ran cold for a split second. Why did it feel like she didn't believe him at all? Why did it feel like she was peering right into his soul? Everyone else left him alone, why the fuck was she bothering him? Why wasn't his reputation keeping her away? He just wanted to be left alone. He liked it that way after everything that had happened. He just wanted to finish his semester and graduate and go somewhere far away. Now this annoying girl who he'd never come across before was trying to make conversation with him? Why couldn't she just avoid him like everyone else? Was she some kind of psychic or something, why was she looking at him like-

"Okay." Chaeyoung said with a small smile, though her expression was unconvinced.

Turning to face the road again, she took one step forward before her vision blacked-out. The same road stripes appeared before her eyes, as though she was flying above the ground. The image of a cell phone lying on the asphalt and a hand reaching out were the last vague scenes that flashed through her mind before the high pitched screech of tyres and smashing glass snapped her back into the present.

 

"Are you okay?"

Chaeyoung turned to see Hoseok was still beside her.

"I'm fine." she nodded, her attention caught by the crosswalk lights changing green. She gave him a small bow in greeting. "Safe home."

Chaeyoung dashed across the zebra crossing, her ribbons flying behind her as she bounced over to the other side and disappeared into the crowded street.

 

"You're seriously helping out with the Hamilton production?" Jungkook asked through a mouthful of chicken, his eyebrow raised in suspicion.

"They needed make-up artists. I'm licensed."

"Ah yeah that's right." he grunted, shoving the straw of his drink into his mouth to help the food go down better.

"Does Yugyeom ever see you like this?" Chaeyoung asked doubtfully, biting into her own chicken burger.

"Of course not! Are you gonna pig out in front of that bastard Hoseok?"

"Hoseok isn't my boyfriend."

"Not with that attitude he won't be."

Jungkook grinned as he caught Chaeyoung mid-drink, her eyes creasing up as she tried to hold in her laughter, her small palm slapping the table as she finally swallowed the cola and laughed out loud.

"Wanna go play at the arcade after?" he asked. "They lowered their prices again for Tekken so I can play even more now. Wanna make a bet? Let's do Tekken Tag, I bet I can beat you with one single player even if you have two, wanna try? Loser buys a gallon of ice-cream from Baskin, it's the thirty-first today too so no complaining it's pretty cheap. What do you say? Too scared? Come on, it's more fun this way, we always get ice cream on the thirty-first."

Chaeyoung blinked, his rambling barely registering with her any more.

Tekken, he said?

"Sure."

 

"When did you get so good?" Jungkook whined an hour later as he plopped down on the seat opposite Chaeyoung, giant bucket of ice cream between them.

"It was your idea." she reminded him, snatching a pink spoon and unwrapping it. "You're gonna eat most of this anyway, let's be real here."

"That's true."

"Wait til Yugyeom hears his boyfriend likes to stuff himself full of fried chicken, french fries and two kilos of ice cream and uses his shirt sleeves as napkins."

"Fuck y-!"

"Stop." Chaeyoung interjected, shoving a large spoon of Cotton Candy Wonderland into his mouth. "There are children here."

"Anyway." Jungkook continued, his jaw stretching ungracefully as he chewed, Chaeyoung taking an equally big shovel of ice-cream. "I heard Park Jimin is still sad about being rejected by you a few days ago, are you gonna console him?"

"Who?" she frowned.

"Park Jimin, the dance major." he repeated. "I heard he jumped out at you that day you went running after that asshole Hoseok."

"Oh him? I mean he's cute, but..."

"But what?"

"I never even knew he existed before then."

"You do live under some kinda rock, huh." he grumbled, shovelling a few more spoonfuls of ice-cream into his mouth. Chaeyoung shook her head as she watched him, wondering where the hell it all went. "Only have eyes for that thug Hoseok, who you also never knew existed before then either."

"Stop calling him that!"

"I just worry about you." he shot back. "I don't like that you're around him and I don't understand why you're so defensive over him either."

"Whatever, just don't talk about him like that."

"Why do you care so much, you don't even know him."

"And you do?"

"I don't have to to dislike him." he said, any mockery and snark having left his tone. He was serious. "You're my best friend, Chaeyoung, and I'd rather cut off my left arm than see you get hurt."

She sat back in the soft pink seat, her features softening.

 

As she lay on the sofa at home watching television, she thought over what had happened that day. Nothing could convince her that Hoseok was a bad guy. Maybe he was the type to make himself look scary, standoffish and dangerous so that others would leave him alone, maybe he was just introverted, but something in her gut was telling her that he wasn't this thuggish guy everyone insisted he was. She didn't agree with Jungkook and she wouldn't follow his advice, but her heart warmed up while in Baskin's.

It felt nice knowing that there were people in her life who truly cared for her.

Every day when she came home, Jin had dinner ready for everyone and had folded all of the laundry that was washed, sorting it into three piles. He and Jisoo had finally admitted to being together so his pile was closer to hers, but neither of them ever made her feel left out. They always knocked on her door to ask if she wanted something to drink or eat, or just to ask about her day.

It wasn't like that in Melbourne.

If she had disappeared without a trace, would anyone have noticed? She was the one who always messaged others to hang out, rarely did she have anyone text her first. On the occasions when she had stopped messaging people for a few days, not a single person contacted her. Maybe this whole bizarre experience was for her own benefit, too. Maybe, just for a little while, she was supposed to be shown what life was like as a person with caring friends. But then... didn't that Taehyung guy say that she'd have no idea about anything when she woke up again? He wasn't to know what kind of life she had. She was chosen at random.

Still, the more she thought about it, the more she began considering moving to Busan after the one hundred days had passed.

She wanted to meet everyone again.

If only there was some way for her to remember...

"Here, Chae. Don't let your legs get cold." Jisoo smiled, gently placing a thin fleece blanket over her lower half as she lay on the sofa, moving to let her roommate sit down. "No, no, don't move! I'm going back into the bedroom, Jin has us binge watching Signal on Netflix. What're you watching?"

"Bird Box."

"Ah, that one? If you get scared you can sleep with us."

"No thanks!" she grimaced, much to Jisoo's amusement.

"Goodnight!"

"Night."


	7. [Day 30]

"Hoseok!"

Hoseok's eyes fluttered shut as he walked across campus, the sound of that familiar voice calling his name.

Why wouldn't Chaeyoung leave him alone?

All she did was bother him at every opportunity.

But then, it wasn't as though anyone else was going out of their way to try and befriend him. When was the last time someone had tried to eat with him? When was the last time someone had willingly spent time with him? Even his own family was awkward around him.

Hoseok stopped abruptly, though didn't turn around, waiting for Chaeyoung to catch up to him.

"Let's go eat!" she grinned. "There's a really good donkatsu place around here, it's underground over there."

"Whatever." he grumbled, though didn't protest.

"Aw, come on! Order whatever you want, it's my treat." she insisted, gripping his forearm and attempting to gently pull him along.

He shrugged her off, grunting that she lead the way.

He scolded himself for smiling as she turned away. It wasn't as though she was interested in him. Still, it was weird to have someone be happy to see him, whatever reason she had to be like that. Chaeyoung was weird, a ball of pink, shining positivity with endless energy. It wasn't long ago when he was the one who radiated that kind of light. It wasn't so long ago when he was the one who buzzed around others.

 

"Wow!"

Hoseok looked up at Chaeyoung, her eyes comically big as the auntie brought over their food. The look of pure joy on her face as the massive pork cutlet was set down in front of them may or may not have made his heart skip a beat. How could something as simple as that bring her so much happiness? He tucked his chin down for a moment, unable to overpower the smile that tugged at his lips. Chaeyoung looked over to him, biting down on her bottom lip, noticing the dimple that formed on his cheek, but didn't acknowledge it for fear that it might go away. Instead, she reminded him of the sauces on the table and handed him a knife and fork for the cheese cutlet he had ordered.

"Hey Hoseok." she started a few minutes after they had begun eating in earnest.

"Hmm?"

"What goes down, but not up?"

Hoseok blinked, raising an eyebrow at her sudden question. He thought for a moment. Down but not up... down but not up...

"What?"

"A 'Yo'." she grinned, mimicking the motion with her free hand.

"A Yo...?" he repeated, his mind going blank before realisation hit him like a ton of bricks and he burst into laughter, his eyes creasing up at the stupid joke. "For fuck sake, Chaeyoung."

A witty reply caught in her throat as she watched him laugh, the sound like music to her ears and as she witnessed his smile, properly for the first time, she felt her cheeks heating up and she dropped her gaze, shyness suddenly washing over her. Man, she knew he was handsome but, like... what the hell was this next level shit? She had seen his smile once and she wasn't sure she wanted to look at anything ever again if it wasn't that.

Oh, this was bad.

But she had to keep it up. She'd made him laugh and he even agreed to eat with her so she was making progress on that front at least.

"What do you get up to on the weekends?" she asked.

"I volunteer after church service."

"Doing what?"

"Soup kitchen for the needy."

"Wow, that's really generous of you to give your time like that to help others."

Silence fell between them for a moment. Hoseok didn't know how to respond to her compliment and Chaeyoung wasn't sure how to follow up.

"Could I... could I come and help out?" she asked eventually.

"Don't you have other stuff to do?"

"Like what?"

"I dunno, whatever it is that you get up to. Sit around being pretty or some shit?"

Fuck.

Hoseok mentally smacked himself, swiping his drink and downing it. It wasn't like him to let things like that slip out. Maybe she didn't notice. Maybe she took it as a jab.

"I spend all week sitting around being pretty, may as well make myself useful on the weekends." she shrugged and relief washed over him - she hadn't read into it too much. "So, can I come help?"

"Sure. We could always do with more hands."

 

*     *     *

 

Hoseok watched Chaeyoung all afternoon. She greeted everyone with a big smile and jumped to help out wherever she could - sometimes to her own detriment when Hoseok found himself stepping in after she had endeavoured to carry out the massive steel pot, the twenty kilo bags of rice and boxes of utensils by herself. Her enthusiasm spurred him on. Her energy really was infectious and Hoseok found himself in a better mood for the first time in a long time. Watching her zoom around to make sure everyone had enough coffee or tea and helping the aunties in the kitchen make up dishes with the leftovers for those who came later.

"I'll wash up, it's no trouble at all!" she beamed at the pastor's wife, taking the pile of dirty dishes from her and adding them to the others she was working her way through.

"You really shouldn't do this, one of us can clean up, you've really outdone yourself." the woman nagged, attempting to get Chaeyoung to move, though she wasn't having any of it. "Why don't you go and help Hoseok out front with tidying up?"

"Oh... should I?" she asked. "It won't take long to wash these."

"I insist." the woman smiled warmly, shooing her away.

Chaeyoung left with a few bows before retreating out to the front of the hall, dashing over to help Hoseok with folding tables and stacking chairs.

"I got kicked out of the kitchen." she sighed when Hoseok looked at her in question. "They told me to help out here."

"Ah. Well, why don't you help out that lady over there? She looks like she's having some trouble getting up." he nodded in the direction of an elderly woman who was trying her best to get up from the pew.

Chaeyoung immediately went to her side and offered her arm, commenting on how cold the lady seemed and asked if she wanted a jacket or a blanket, but the lady insisted she was fine.

"Goodness," the lady began straightening herself up. "I'll have to get used to doing this by myself now my husband is gone."

"I'm so sorry for your loss!" Chaeyoung exclaimed, her eyebrows raising in concern, her hand patting the elderly woman's.

"We only buried him last week, he died so suddenly, so I wanted to come and pray for him... to make sure he's okay in Heaven."

 

Hoseok pretended to busy himself with organising the leaflets for the following week and sorting out all of the recycling, but his ears were trained on her voice.

"It's been a hard few days for me." the lady continued. "It's so hard, it was such a shock."

"It must've been hard for you." Chaeyoung nodded, "But I think the hardest part is to come, so you should prepare well."

"Why do you say that?"

"In my experience, the hardest part of losing someone isn't the days of burial, it's going back to daily life. Your world has changed forever in ways you might not have thought until you suddenly encounter it. When holidays come, it's strange not having them there. But I think the hardest part of going back to daily life, once you lose someone so suddenly, is that your heart isn't prepared for it and because of that, you might find yourself expecting your husband to come home at any moment. Even though you know he's gone, your heart hasn't adjusted to it yet. But I think you don't need to come all the way here to pray for your husband, because he will always be by your side. Take comfort in your relationship and know that he's always listening." Chaeyoung smiled warmly at the elderly lady who simply sighed and nodded at her words. "If you'll excuse me, I must get back to clearing up. Please let me know if you need anything else."

 

"How do you know?" Hoseok asked as they sat outside on the steps with a bottle of Pocari each.

"Hmm?"

"You told that lady that her husband is always by her side, always listening. How do you know?"

"I don't." she shrugged. "It just felt that way when my grandpa died. I kept talking to him as though he could hear me. It felt like he could. I believe that they know everything we wanted to say to them, everything we feel. They know our hearts... I don't think those who have passed away want those who are still here to suffer in any way. It's not worth our time living in despair. They'd want us to live well."

Hoseok bit down hard on his cheek, composing himself before he asked again:

"How do you know that?"

"I don't."


	8. [Day 45]

Hoseok lay motionless in the near pitch black darkness of his bedroom.

How long had he lay there for?

He wasn't sure.

 

Chaeyoung's words had stuck with him since that day at church and found that he couldn't drag himself out of bed. Depression had hit him like a tidal wave and he was unable to move. He hadn't picked up his phone in days, hadn't even had the courage to go to class for the past two weeks. He had heard his phone but he didn't care to even look at who was trying to reach him, never mind answer them.

Was it true?

What Chaeyoung had said... could it possibly be true?

His eyes fluttered closed as he willed sleep to take him for another while, but it wouldn't come. He had rested so much, he had barely moved in the last two weeks, yet he couldn't find the energy to do anything. His oldest friend, Namjoon, had stopped by to try and coax him outside and it had worked a couple of times, but the lanky man could only do so much. He had managed to go to classes for a while longer, but it was too much for him right now and so he did what he always did and fell off the face of the planet.

Chaeyoung had waited around for him at the main building where they usually met each day to work on the performance with the drama department, but he had failed to turn up. Her heart sank further and further each day. She had decided to give him space, but after one week of his disappearance she had messaged him and when she wasn't so much as left on read, thought about calling. Hoseok glanced at his phone as it rang for the third time that week, his eyes studied the black device as it vibrated on his end table, fixed on it until it stopped.

He just didn't want to be around people and it seemed that they didn't want to be bothered by him, either and so it didn't register when the lock on his front door turned and beeped. It didn't register when his best friend stepped through his bedroom door, not until the new weight at the end of his bed caused the mattress to dip and he was forced out of his comfortable position.

"I tried calling, asshole, don't be surprised." Namjoon grumbled, sighing at the sight of him curled up on his mattress. "You're gonna get ill at this rate, at least open a window."

"That was you calling?" he asked, gaze flicking to meet his friend's tired face.

"Yeah, I called a couple times this week."

No sooner had the words left Namjoon's lips did the phone begin buzzing again. Hoseok glanced between the object and Namjoon before flopping his head down again. The call cut short and there was a few minutes of silence before it rang once more.

 

Chaeyoung chewed on her thumb nail as she sat in the living room with Jisoo as Jin moved around the kitchen making dinner. She frowned as her call went to voicemail. She fidgeted with her phone, wondering if she should try again. Maybe she could leave a voicemail this time instead, she didn't really expect him to pick up, but she couldn't shake the uneasiness in the pit of her stomach. Raising the phone to her ear for the final time, she rose up out of her seat and padded across the room and into the hall, sliding into her bedroom.

_"Hello?"_

Her heart leapt as Hoseok picked up the call, but she froze momentarily once she realised that wasn't his voice.

"Hello? Is Hoseok there?"

_"Yeah he's here, but he's not feeling well."_

"Oh... Is there anything I can do for him? Will he be back to school soon?"

_"I'm not sure, to both of those questions, but I'll try my best to get him back up and running."_

"Thanks." Chaeyoung sighed. "Tell him I said I hope he gets better soon. I miss having him around."

_"Can I ask your name? This dumbass saved you as 'Pinky' on his phone."_

"I'm Chaeyoung." she smiled. "You?"

 _"I'm Namjoon."_ he smirked, noticing Hoseok's head snap up to glare at him. _"Thanks for calling to check-in, sorry Hoseok's being an ass but I can treat you to dinner if-"_

...

...?

"Hello?" Chaeyoung looked at her phone as the call suddenly ended.

 

"Oh-ho, there he is." Namjoon smirked as Hoseok shoved his phone into his back pocket. "So?"

"So what?" Hoseok pushed himself off the bed and squinted as bright daylight greeted him in his living room.

"So who is this Chaeyoung? She seems pretty concerned about you. I think you should go meet her, it might pull you out of this funk, man."

"I just don't wanna face the world right now, and I spent plenty of time with her, it didn't stop me falling back into it." he mumbled, ruffling a hand through his dark hair as he sleepily moved around his kitchen, filling up the kettle and flicking the switch down.

"Tell me about her." Namjoon offered, sitting down on the tall stool at the tiny breakfast bar.

Hoseok was silent as he padded across the room, pulling the shitty lace curtains back the whole way to slide open the large windows and let some air in. He scratched the back of his neck and folded his arms, gazing outside at the street below. Namjoon observed him. His eyebrows knit, muscles in his jaw twitching and his eyes weren't completely dead any more.

"She's a ball of energy. A glittery pink ball of energy. She's happy all the damn time, shoving her way into my life being all positive and happy-go-lucky and shit." he said finally, turning away from the window and going back to the kitchenette as the kettle switch flicked up again.

"Sounds like someone I know." Namjoon replied, chin resting on his hand as he accepted a cup of watery mix coffee and ignoring the dirty look Hoseok gave him. "Got any pictures?"

Namjoon waited patiently as Hoseok sighed, knowing his friend wouldn't fuck off out of his apartment and leave him alone unless he did as he was asked. He unlocked his phone and went into the KaTalk church group chat where the aunties had bombarded each other with pictures of a smiling and enthusiastic looking Chaeyoung who had gone to help out without him for the past couple of weeks. Shit, she really was beautiful. He slid the phone across to Namjoon who raised an eyebrow, picking it up and giving a low whistle.

"She's a fox." he concluded, "Hey maybe I really will treat her to dinner... and dessert."

He burst into laughter as Hoseok flung a wet dish cloth at him that wrapped itself around his head.

"Okay man, hell, I'll piss off and leave you alone, okay?" he grimaced, throwing the rag back at his grumpy friend and standing up from the stool. He downed the rest of his coffee and threw his hat back on. "Say whatever you want about her but nothing got a reaction out of you except Chaeyoung. You still feel something, bro, that's a good sign."

"Get out of my house!" Hoseok drawled, too tired to snap at his friend.

Namjoon said nothing, but grinned knowing that he at least got his butt out of bed and in contact with some fresh air, even if it took provoking him to get there. With a simple nod and a handshake, Namjoon bounded out of his apartment and Hoseok couldn't help but shake his head. It was beginning to hurt, a pain creeping in across his forehead and he scoured his cupboards for medicine, tossing two painkillers into his mouth and gulping them down with his coffee before retreating to his room and slamming the door shut.

 

Chaeyoung sighed as she rolled over on her bed. She was supposed to be helping Hoseok, but how was she supposed to do that when he pulled disappearing acts? Would calling be overstepping again? He clearly didn't want to talk to her. But that didn't mean she couldn't check in on him! He would have some kind of social media, surely? Yoongi had said that he was part of a dance group, maybe they had social media? Maybe there would be come clues there? Picking up her phone, she went to Naver and searched his name and school, her heart leaping as his picture immediately appeared but she froze as soon as she realised that it wasn't social media accounts that appeared under his name, but news articles. Headlines crowded the results page:

 

_**COLLEGE STUDENT INVOLVED IN DEADLY CAR ACCIDENT RULED NOT GUILTY, FAMILY TO APPEAL** _

 

_**COLLEGE STUDENT ACCUSED OF MURDER AVOIDS JAIL** _

 

_**COLLEGE STUDENT 'A' IS JUNG HOSEOK OF BUSAN UNIVERSITY** _

 

_**FRIENDS AND FAMILY OF MURDERED MOTORCYCLIST CAMPAIGN FOR JUNG HOSEOK'S EXPULSION** _

 

_**OUTRAGE AS JUNG HOSEOK IS FOUND NOT GUILTY** _

 

_**BUSAN UNIVERSITY STANDS BY STUDENT ACCUSED OF MURDER** _

 

Chaeyoung frowned as she clicked into the first article:

> _14:45 Shin Heejun, Busan -_
> 
> _College student 'A' who has now been identified as Jung Hoseok of Busan University, a Dance major, has been declared 'Not Guilty' by the judge presiding over the case. Jung was accused of manslaughter by motorcyclist 'B's family after an accident that took place on Friday the 11th of January 2019 where Jung had failed to stop in time after motorcyclist B had been thrown from his vehicle after hitting a bollard. The defense argued that there was insufficient time for Jung to stop and that running over B was unavoidable and regrettable but inevitable. The case was strengthened after it was made known that Jung had immediately called an ambulance and remained with B alongside another motorist who had stopped to help until help arrived. B was pronounced dead at the scene. Neither Jung nor B tested positive for alcohol._
> 
> _The judge presiding over the case felt that with the evidence provided, black boxes and CCTV as well as accounts from other motorists, Jung was not guilty. The family of the motorcyclist, however, feel that this was an avoidable situation and have made moves to try and appeal the decision but the courts have made it clear that the decision is final. It was reported that Jung had attempted to attend the funeral of the deceased but was refused entry._
> 
> _Busan National University has declared that, along with the judge's verdict, Jung will not be expelled from the school. The head of the Department commented on the case:_
> 
> _"Jung Hoseok is the best student we have in our school. Not only is he excelling academically, he is a bright, cheerful and positive student, willing to help everyone who needs it and is never seen without a smile on his face. He is devoted to helping his church and always participates with enthusiasm in our school events. This is an unfortunate accident that has occurred, but it should not be a hindrance to Jung Hoseok and Busan National will make sure to support him when he is ready to return."_
> 
> _Due to South Korea's Double Jeopardy laws, citizens may not be tried for the same crime twice."_
> 
>  

Sadness, understanding and rage flowed through Chaeyoung's veins as she read each article - the comment sections of which were merciless, completely unforgiving in their judgement of Hoseok. Her heart broke at the Department Head's description of him - of the person he used to be - and she suddenly felt bad for imposing herself upon him, for forcing her way into the quiet life he was trying to live. But it made sense now, too. The why. It might've taken her half the time to figure out what exactly had warranted Taehyung transporting her all the way to Busan, but now it made sense. How much must he have suffered? People avoided him like the plague on campus, at best they tolerated him, and she wondered how much it was made worse by him not being kicked out. How brave he was to go there every day and face the world.

One o'clock in the morning rolled around after Chaeyoung had exhausted herself from reading articles and comment sections and she didn't spend a second debating with herself before she hit the dial button on Hoseok's number, not expecting him to answer, which he didn't, instead she waited patiently before leaving a voicemail and hanging up, tossing her phone aside and flinging her arm over her eyes that had begun to tear up. He didn't deserve any of those awful words. It was just an accident. An unfortunate accident.

She was more determined than ever to help him.

 

 


	9. [Day 49]

_"He wouldn't want you to suffer because of this. He knows it was an accident - the best thing you can do for him is to live well. Letting your life be held back only puts more of a burden on the man who already left his family behind. Don't make him sorry to you as well. I'm sorry if I was bothering you so much before, I didn't know how much you were suffering and I'm not trying to tell you to suddenly be happy. I'm not dense, I see how others treat you at school and in all honesty it's their loss for not being kinder to you. You've done nothing wrong and they're letting their prejudices cloud their opinion of you. You're golden. I don't know how you've managed so far, Hoseok. I don't think I've met a stronger person than you. You're incredible. Your dancing, your rapping, your kind, warm and open heart... when I saw your smile the other week, how radiant you were, I think I got a glimpse of how you used to be. If you really were how I think you were, then you'd put the god damn sun itself to shame. If you'd let me... and you don't have to, I don't wanna overstep, I'd like to make you smile some more. I just want you to know that you're valued, you're loved and you deserve to be happy. But please be kind to yourself. It hasn't been that long since the accident. Nothing was your fault, Hoseok. Absolutely none of it was your fault."_

 

The white stripes passed through Chaeyoung's field of vision, once again, as though she were flying above the road. The cell phone lay on the ground, the hand reaching out to grab it, but suddenly the scene changed and the image of a foot desperately slamming onto the pedal of a car appeared. The shrill sound of screeching tyres and smashing glass marked the end of the dream or vision or whatever the hell it was that she kept seeing and Chaeyoung's eyes opened, a resigned sigh leaving her lips. It suddenly occurred to her that the vision may have been clues about Hoseok's accident all along.

 

"Oh?"

Chaeyoung's tired head rose up at the sound of the surprised voice, her sleepy eyes squinting against the sunlight as she looked up at a tall, lanky figure looming over her where she sat crouched outside the apartment block where Hoseok lived.

"Who are you waiting for?" the young man asked, frowning as he looked at her as though he was trying to figure something out.

"Just my friend Jung Hoseok-"

"Oh! You're her!" he clapped his hands and grinned down at her, urging her to get up, which she did. "I'm Namjoon, we talked on the phone last time you called."

"Ah, so that was you." she smiled awkwardly as he positively beamed at her, unsure why he was being so friendly. "I've been trying to get a hold of Hoseok this past week but I've had no luck, so I thought I'd come here myself and see if I can get talking to him."

"I'll let you in, I know his passcode." Namjoon offered, pushing her inside the door as he punched in the security code for the entrance before she could protest that it was a bit weird.

She wasn't sure whether to protest further while they stood outside of Hoseok's apartment door where Namjoon mindlessly entered Hoseok's password and wrenched the door open for her, gesturing for her to go inside. He mentioned that it would be better for her to go in and see him instead and before she could say anything more, Namjoon disappeared down the elevator again. With a small sigh, Chaeyoung pulled the front door shut as quietly as she could, sliding her shoes off and padding into the apartment, calling out Hoseok's name, though received no answer. Gingerly she walked into the living area, but didn't see anyone. She checked the balcony, but it was deserted too and so the only option left was the bedroom. She stood outside the door that wasn't totally closed - a crack still left between it and the frame. With a gentle push, the door silently opened a little further and Chaeyoung was able to peer inside, her heart sinking as she spotted the man himself sitting on the edge of his bed, head hanging low.

 _"What the fuck are you doing here?"_ he muttered, not giving her a single glance as he rested his forehead in his hand.

Chaeyoung didn't answer, instead, she slipped inside the dark room and took in what she could make out of the surroundings. It was a very neat room. Expensive looking figurines lined the shelves on his walls in perfect lines. A mac computer sat on the desk that didn't have a single item out of place. Textbooks were stacked neatly between book-ends and several boxes of sneakers took up the space beside his wardrobe. Numerous trophies for dance competitions sat upon a small cabinet in the corner, medals hanging from hooks on the wall. How passionate he must have been to have won so many. What was his dream, exactly? What had he hoped to achieve after studying dance at university? She looked back over to Hoseok, whose gaze was now fixed on her - a deathly glare being sent her way that didn't seem to have any effect on her whatsoever. 

Instead, she slowly made her way over to him, sitting down on the bed beside him. He didn't react until she shifted herself backwards and she ignored his protests as she boldly sat behind him, her legs on either side of his, arms wrapped tightly around his waist, chest flush against his back as she hugged him firmly.

"Chaeyoung, what the fuck? What the fuck are you doing - Let go of me, Chaeyoung!"

But she didn't move. She didn't say a single word as he continued to grumble and protest against her hold on him. It continued for another minute.

"Don't fucking try to comfort me." he spat, hackles raised as she asked if he had listened to her voicemail, which he had. 

Several times.

"I'm not going anywhere." she uttered.

"You'll never understand my situation!" he continued.

"You're right." she replied softly. "But I'm still not going anywhere."

"Chaeyoung, just stop. Just go home." he urged, finding his energy had drained and he couldn't find the will to wriggle out of her grasp.

She didn't reply, but adjusted her grip on him and gently patted his side. That was all it took for the pent up emotions within Hoseok to come flooding out - and Chaeyoung didn't falter for a second as his large frame shuddered against her while he cried, his hands gripping her arms tightly as she held him. She was thankful that he couldn't see her face, couldn't see her eyes that were also welling up. Pain ripped through his chest as he cried his heart out, the warmth of Chaeyoung somehow bringing everything to the surface. It was the first time anyone had comforted him like that and the release was a massive load off of his shoulders. Something so simple, being held tightly and assured that you were not going to be left alone, that was all it took for something to change within Jung Hoseok.

 

 


End file.
